Vikings Set to Start Season This Weekend

Sioux Falls, S.D.– The Augustana wrestling team gets the 2018-19 season started Sunday, Nov. 5 with the Daktronics Open in Brookings, S.D. The meet is set to begin at 9 a.m. and will be a good early season test for the Vikings since it features DI opponents including South Dakota State, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

This weekend’s dual will mark the 16th year at the helm for Vikings head coach Jason Reitmeier. Reitmeier, who is Augustana’s all-time winningest coach is optimistic about this season but also realistic. “The team is fairly young, a few upperclassmen, but what I expect does not require experience,” Reitmeier said, “I”m looking for effort – I expect my guys to wrestle hard for seven minutes and compete consistently.”

The Vikings were recently picked to finish fourth in the NSIC preseason poll, and Keaten Schorr was named a wrestler to watch. Overall, the Vikings return eight starters and 14 letter winners from last season’s 11-4 (6-2 NSIC) squad, including a national qualifier in Junior Lukas Poloncic. Poloncic starts the ranked eleventh at 174 pounds. In 2017-18 Polonic went 19-17 and qualified for Nationals after taking fourth at 174 pounds at the Super Region 3 Championships. The Gillette, Wyo. native led the team with six major decisions and also had three falls and four tech falls with 47 takedowns and 45 escapes.

Following the Daktronics Open, Augustana will compete in the Dakota Wesleyan Open on Saturday, Nov. 10. The Vikings first home match of the year will be Jan. 9 against Dakota Wesleyan.

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